City Inn’s latest installation is from Bradford born photographer Giuseppe Lambertino and offers an artists perspective of the Granary Wharf development and the industrial views around the hotel. The pieces are extraordinarily intricate, taking scenes of the ordinary in all their grit and glory, turning these into something of beauty and interest whilst keeping the integrity of the core subject intact. He plays with light and texture as most artists play with paint and these photo’s will be of particular interest to those that have watched this development grow in recent years and more over to anyone who has lived and worked in Leeds.
Personally, I really enjoy the subject of these photo’s; of all the recent developments in Leeds the one that has worked best in my mind has to be Granary Wharf. The buildings sit well with the industrial past of the area and using them for the focus of this body of work celebrates the fact it came to completion where so many other developments have been mothballed until more affluent times. I like the artists approach with this body of work and I’m impressed with his ability to carve the mundane into a moment of enjoyment. In my opinion people should take more time to see art in the everyday, to stop every now and again to enjoy what is around us in the city. Maybe to try and find that moment of childlike glee in seeing something for the first time again.
This is also a great example of commerce supporting the arts and I think this kind of enterprise does make the arts more accessible. Giuseppe has also recently worked on the “Now Then” project with Art in Unusual Spaces at the Leeds Shopping Plaza, which was a series of work from people with an intimate knowledge of Leeds. It’s these projects that allow us to gain a better understanding of the structure of the city around us and to begin to see more than just the bricks and mortar around us in our every day routine.
The installation is available to view now at the City Inn and is perfect for those interested in the old and the new of Leeds and looking to help fill your lunch hour with something different in the city centre.
Photo’s courtesy of Giuseppe Lambertino